A Big Barrel Is Refilled

Los Angeles was once lousy with fanciful buildings made to look like other things: The Brown Derby restaurants are an example. Most are gone or living out a shabby old age.

Idle Hour Cafe, a 1941 bar in North Hollywood with a distinctive barrel-shaped center, has escaped that fate. After a 44-year hiatus that included an interlude as La Caña, a flamenco dance space, and a stretch sitting empty, the painstakingly refurbished bar is to reopen in February as the Idle Hour, offering a menu of American drinks and food.

The resurrection began in 2011 when Chris Nichols, a Los Angeles writer and preservationist, tipped off Bobby Green, whose 1933 Group owns seven bars with nostalgic themes, that the landmark building was up for auction. Since then, Mr. Green has spent about $1 million on the renovation.

“I have been recreating history for so long,” he said. “And now I finally got to restore it.”